The Nexus
by The Sunflower Seed
Summary: All Spectre wanted to do was enjoy her summer before destiny could screw up her life anymore. Unfortunately it had an immense plan relating to the commander of the hunted Autobots. Join her as she teams up with Optimus as they fight against time to reclaim a Cybertronian artifact with the US government and the Decepticons in hot pursuit. Do not own Transformers. *DISCONTINUED*
1. Chapter 1

Helicopters whirred over the quiet countryside, spotlights roaming the tall grass for their target. The trees bent with protest at the high velocity of the wind the helicopter threw at them, trying their best not to break under the pressure. Hope was being prayed to Primus to not give him away, the battle worn semi-truck with the blue and red flamed paint job. There laid our once proud and kind leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime.

He stayed in his alt. mode, waiting for the army to call off their search as the trees and dark brush kept him covered from the forming rain. A few drops landed on his windshield, jolting from the cold precipitation. It had been at least a few years when the Battle of Chicago destroyed a good chunk of the population; now a city blocked off as a memorial. It wasn't specifically the Autobot's fault for having a massacre on their hands but thinking about it made Optimus's spark hurt to the point of extinguishing itself. All those innocent lives lost because of them, for leaving instead of rebelling against the world's order to shoot them into space.

The Decepticon's had the same issue; yet they functioned as any normal Cybertronian trying to hide in plain sight. They took on the normal civilian car function, making it harder to distinguish them if they were happening to be in rush hour traffic. Optimus had kept his optics peeled for Decepticon threats only to bring back the fruit of failure with a once in a while chase from the military. None the less he continued his pursuit in hopes that one day, the humans could form another alliance to bring back a golden age of peace throughout the galaxy.

A tree branch snapped and immediately Optimus turned on his sonar, the red dots forming close by. All he could do was stay still and hope against hope that the military didn't stumble upon him.

The night was slowly turning into a dull rainy day, the military with their Black Ops slowly stalking the perimeters of the last known energon reading they picked up. Why the leader of the Autobots came to this plain, flat state was currently unknown. The leader of this group, a tall thin man named Malcolm stared into the distance where he could see a forest line mashing into the corn fields with a little farm on the side of the heavily abandoned road. His sun glasses glimmered with stern, his suit fluttering at the wind of the helicopter, flying towards their boss.

Men were spread thin and eventually grouped up as they took the search by foot, the helicopter landing behind Malcolm. A man stepped out, big and intimidating, his dark skin making him look more like a shadow than a person.

"Sir, the target has not been located."

"Keep searching," Malcolm called over the sounds of the slowing propellers, "he has to be here. I can feel it."

"Yes sir." It was a dull reply but what else could he do? The president ordered them to get rid of the Autobots and the Decepticons, the enemies of Earth. With a wave of his finger, the helicopter took off without him, the man advancing to his boss.

"This is beautiful, plain but beautiful." Malcolm turned on his foot, polished black shoes now stained with dirt.

"I don't pay you to stand around and do nothing!"

"Sir, I'm merely doing surveillance and also my other job." Swinging a sniper off his back, the rifle being planted into the ground so when the time comes to snipe the alien bastard, he could pivot at any angle necessary. Malcolm wasn't impressed to say the least, seeing plenty of snipers in his time for a fifty year old man. He walked behind the man observing the African American load the rifle with a strip of casings and bullets. Raising an eyebrow Malcolm asked, "What's your name?"

"I am Nigel."

"Nigel?"

"Yes it doesn't fit my race but I do not mind. I'm just here serving for my country."

Dismissing the statement with a nod, Malcolm noted that the scenery has changed now the farm house's barn looking like an easy place for a Transformer to hide in. He turned on his radio, hoping his intuition from Iraq has finally paid off.

Optimus held in his breath as the red dots got closer to his position, holding himself as still as he could not to alert them to his imminent presence.

"What do you think would happen if we shot out his windshields?"

"We'd just piss him off. After all he's the leader not the soldier who serves under him."

Just a few more steps…

The radio crackled to life close by, the chilled voice filling the radio.

:Go towards the barn. Over.:

"Why sir?"

:Target could possibly be using the barn as shelter.:

"But sir, we saw the alien come in here! Over."

:You will follow orders to the letter now come to the barn. Over.:

The radio was filled with a soothing static, Optimus holding his breath for hope that he indeed was free.

"Come on Jack, we better go."

"Dumbass." The feet became fainter as they ran out of the forest with not much grace, snapping branches and their zippers chiming to the beat of their pace. Letting out a sigh, Optimus eased himself out of the tension, screeching metal and expanding plastic crackling through the forest.

"Finally, they are gone." Transforming, Optimus surveyed himself for damage, imagining how pissed Ratchet would be if he was here to see his condition. Bullet holes riddled his form with huge shells clanging around in his systems, making it rather uncomfortable to shift or move; his tires were blown out with some spikes poking out; his windows were cracked; and holding out his arm, his weapons were unfortunately damaged making him vulnerable to rogue attacks whether inflicted by the humans or the Decepticons.

"Where did everything go wrong?" he asked himself, trying to find an answer in his processor. The only clear answer was Chicago. He checked his HUD and wasn't startled by the date blinking in a blue color.

June 12, 2015.

A weak smile came on his faceplates. Today was the anniversary of the attack on Chicago and according to the school calendars he strayed on during his search for Sam Witwicky, this was the first day of summer where human children are released from their studies for at least three months.

They get to enjoy no worries unlike him who has to worry about the government hunting him down. For once he was the prey, not the hunter. Looking past the trees, he saw them advance on a farm house and quietly transformed, heading down this rocky road of rocks that hit his windshield wit cracks forming. Nice and quiet for once in his hell of a life.

**Quite an abrupt ending but I couldn't see how I could end it nicely to say the least. Please R&amp;R, I know this isn't going to tie in with the movie coming out June 27 (by the way so happy! XD XD XD) I want to take a crack at it before I see the new movie. My OC's will be in here so no flames please! Love from The Cherryblossom Tree **


	2. Chapter 2

The car was hot and stuffy as a teenager kept her gold eyes on the road, ignoring her uncle's witty comments as she hit the breaks and took a hard right turn before speeding off onto the ramp towards the freeway.

"Spectre, watch it! I almost smelled some bacon burning." The man teased, his green glassy eyes glimmering. He came from her mother's side, the Ray side, the side that held the sheer determination, greed, stress, and rebellion. The Velde part was the fierce passion for adventure, cold logic, excellent reflexes, and the easy going nature for life.

She for sure inherited the Velde genes: a small pale face, black hair with electric blue highlights, gold eyes, and the uncontrollable talent of defying the aging process; at the age of seventeen she looked like a freshman in high school. It wasn't really bad after all it made it possible to grab a job as an actress.

Today was the long drive from cold Wisconsin to Iowa where most of her relatives lived. It was a relief really since her family was driving her nuts for the past few days; her mom was going psychotic raising her younger brother, Eric; getting nagged to find a job when it would take an hour to reach any town in any direction, having to finance a car, and more importantly finding out what college she needed to go to. Plus with her dad trying to shanghai her into joining the family legacy of the Navy Seals or the Black Ops. It was too overwhelming to get her head wrapped around a general idea for the future.

Trying to shun away the stress threatening her to lose concentration on the road, she turned on the radio, paging through all the stations until she settled on a song.

_I left a note on my bedpost__  
__Said not to repeat yesterday's mistakes__  
__What I tend to do when it comes to you__  
__I see only the good, selective memory__  
_

With a huff, Spectre kept her eyes on the road as the car got silent except for the echoes of the cars coming off various ramps or the semi-trucks that threatened to tip with their overbearing loads. The radio shattered the calming environment with a broadcast.

"Attention all interstate drivers en route to Dubuque, we ask you for cooperation to pull over to the right side of this freeway. We have a suspect heading south bound with a vehicle description of a black SUV with California plates."

Taking a casual glance at her uncle, Spectre shrugged.

"Ignore it there Vee, they'll probably catch up to him soon enough. We'll pull over when we see the police officers and whoever the hell they're chasing."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Trust me on this, it'll be fine."

_I've never met someone so different_

_Oh here we go_

_You part of me now, you part of me_

_So where you go, I follow, follow, follow_

From her peripheral vision, she could see her uncle shift, leaning his head against the window and totally relaxing.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching me drive?"

"Again don't worry about it. I don't think the pigs are interested in you." He yawned before smacking his lips. Spectre drove on watching as a black SUV tailgated her. With the police warning in the back of her mind, she looked in the rear view mirror for the plates. Unfortunately they were tailgating so closely that she couldn't make out the state issue.

With an irritated sigh, she took both hands off the wheel for a second and slammed them in mild frustration before taking control again. This wasn't what she needed.

The SUV grumbled in Cybertronian. These fleshings were relentless! It was bad enough he encountered Optimus Prime and have him in pursuit. Now he had the helicopters, cars, tanks, everything on his aft! Damn all to the Pit! This was _so_ not his day! All he could do was tailgate this one human occupied vehicle, making sure that he was close enough that if the damn Autobot did try anything to kill him, he'd be endangering the humans.

The truck growled in frustration. Just when he had lost the military, a Decepticon had sprung up and destroyed most of the human party that was previously searching for him. The unrelenting torture of these freeways was murder on his tires, threatening to shred them with every pothole, crack, and gap that the road presented. His paint job got even filthier, the once polished red and blue of pride all nothing but a deep beige color that made him look less intimidating.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked in his rear view mirrors with no sign of military or police, just a couple of vehicles with civilians inside. Something wasn't right here. He flicked through the radio, noting certain channels presented music and others the police used so no civilians could help the criminal escape. It was very odd the lengths some people will do just to piss off the authorities. He paused in his processor for a minute before smirking. Then again he was doing just that. Still musing on it, he finally heard his target's description, accelerating more quickly as the human military presented itself on an off ramp a mile away, sirens piercing the air and speeding away towards his target.

Good, he can finally kick back and let them take care of-

"All personnel target has been located tailgating an older Honda model that is a blue color. Civilians are in the vehicle, one looks like a child and the other an older man."

His energon froze. A young human in danger? Optimus growled in anger, of course a damn Decepticon would do something like this! They always have to make innocent people pay their price for failure or their price of cowardice. Stepping harder on his accelerator, his semi-truck roared down the interstate, his sights set on saving the innocent from an impending disaster.

'Looks like it's a clear shot to Iowa.' She took a quick glance at her uncle, dozed off in the passenger seat, his blonde hair fluttering at the air conditioning. Her heart raced against her rib cage as the police and what looked like the army was coming up to the tailgater. It was something that she didn't want to get in trouble because of this idiot of a driver! What did he do anyways that'd piss off the military anyways?

Tanks were zooming close in second, spitting a couple missiles behind the SUV; it went unfazed and Spectre hit the gas, trying to lose this psychotic driver. Her accelerator pumped up to ninety miles per hour and the SUV increased its speed as well still keeping it bumper to bumper. Spectre racked her brain for another way to shake off her pursuer. She switched to the left lane with the SUV keeping close to her and that's when the dumbest idea came to her: hit the brakes.

Turning off her cruise control, she took both of her feet and slammed on the brakes, skid marks trailing after her, the scent of rubber burning, and to her horror instead of the SUV stopping, it started shifting into what looked like a mechanical demon with four red optics, a bulky body and its sharp talons grabbing the car as though it were a mere toy; a sharp talon covered in glowing green stuff punctured Spectre's abdomen.

The world seemed to slow, the talon ripped from her stomach, car turning in every single direction. There was a bright light before being still. It was hard to distinguish what happened after the transforming demon; the next thing Spectre knew was that she was on her back, her uncle's car on top of her, rib cage slowly crushing in on itself, and pain. Lots and lots of pain.

She tried to shake the car off herself or try to wriggle herself free. Unfortunately she was stuck under this weight that seemed to be torturing with the slowest agonizing death anyone could ask for. She turned her head to the left seeing police officers with their radios tending to a limp body, not moving, blood covering every inch of it, and even dyed the patch of blonde hair red- Spectre's heart froze.

That was her uncle.

Optimus watched in fascination how the youth was trying to put a stop to the Decepticon's shenanigan's; speeding, turning, and even hitting the breaks.

'That's a clever human.' He came to regret that threat as the Decepticon scout transformed, picking up the car as though it were a mere toy, hearing a man scream in fear. Not a distress sound came from the youth inside as the Decepticon hurled the car towards Optimus before transforming and speeding off towards the state line.

Optimus watched as two people were ejected, one a young female and another a man. He watched in horror, slamming on his brakes so he wasn't the one who hit the innocent civilians while the military charged on, radioing to the police to stay behind and take on the accident that was caused by the "metal Satan." The leader watched as the girl landed a few yards in front of him, the car landing on top of her.

His spark hurt watching as both figures didn't move. If he had transformed and caught them, they wouldn't have suffered a terrible-

"Help! Someone! I-I can't breathe!"

Optimus looked up to find the girl who was pinned under the car yelling at the police officers who had quickly recovered the male's bloody corpse. They were radioing in back up. Through the static he could make out the police officer's cries to the girl, "We can't move the vehicle until backup has arrived!"

It was hard to watch this girl who survived this horrible endeavor only to be denied the help she desperately needs. His spark lit up with a burning desire, the desire to protect. He revved his engine and proceeded to the scene quickly.

Her breath was starting to get shallower and shallower, her heart was pounding ten times faster than it should be, and her voice was fading out.

'This is useless! I'll die before any back up will arrive!' Trying to keep herself calm and collected, Spectre laid on her back, raising her arms against the side of her uncle's now destroyed car and pushed, trying to get this weight off her wound. Pain ricocheted down her abdomen as survival instincts kicked in, arms rocking the cars form back and forth, back and forth; a steady rhythm being established.

Slowly it was becoming easier for her to breathe, her mind whirring with sheer happiness that she was going to survive on her account and no one else. Just as the car was going to tip over from its momentum, an explosion close by made Spectre put her arms up in defense from the flying shrapnel. A couple embedded itself in her arms, the car rocked back to its grave spot, crushing the young teenager again.

"Oof!"

"Autobot scum!" A voice snarled and Spectre looked up to find the damn Decepticon that caused this accident in the first place stood extremely close by, his red optics glued to something else. She turned her head and watched as a bit mid transformed, a tall robot with piercing blue optics. He let two thin pieces of metal connect at his mouth and nose component, creating a battle mask.

'Yeah now I can see why all robot aliens are being hunted.' Now determined to survive this screwed up day, Spectre tried once again the rhythm of rocking this destroyed wreckage off of her.

The Decepticon scout charged, a mace hurled in the Prime's direction. Gritting his denta Optimus took the blow of the mace deeply embedded in his arm. Ignoring the agony, he ripped the weapon out of him, metal from his arm flying everywhere. The scout laughed.

"Oh is our little Autobot too scared to draw his own weapons? I had expected more from a Prime. You don't look as scary as the others depict you as."

"They must've not seen what I do to those who endanger the humans." Optimus crouched down and the Decepticon laughed hearilty as he charged, using his fists as his weapons. Trying to get in a sucker punch, Optimus grabbed its wrist and twisted it behind his back, earning a howling screech. Leaning into the audios, Optimus snarled, "Don't be so cocky!"

The Decepticon wrenched itself from his grasp and charged again only to have the mace bury itself in half of its face. Optimus pushed the Decepticon out of the way, retracting his mask.

"That was too easy, which means that the military must've taken their toll on you as well." Picking up the deceased mech, Optimus tossed him onto the other side of the interstate, opposing traffic already stopped and cleared from the alien sighting. With a snort, Optimus looked down again to see the girl trying to push the vehicle off, her face going blue.

He gingerly picked up the car and set it to the side, getting down to one knee, observing her actions as she laid there, breathing heavily, her golden eyes connecting with his. They showed no fear, none that could be detected. The girl closed her eyes for a minute, her hand going to the pierced t-shirt, blood and the green ooze pooling together.

Spectre did not see that coming. She expected the taller mech to leave as soon as he killed the scout instead he got the crushing ball of steel off her. Weirder is that he got down to one knee, staring at her. The Autobots; they were considered foe yet this one decided to save her today. Sitting up with her hand gingerly putting pressure on her wound, Spectre looked up to her savior and nodded.

"Thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome." His voice sent pleasant shivers down her spine. It was baritone, the coolest sound in the world! She smiled at him; she couldn't put a finger on this pleasant sensation coursing through her body but he was causing it.

'I really hope he isn't using any powers to use me.'

A low rumble came closer; Spectre craned her neck upwards to find a helicopter approaching her hero, men with bazookas pointed at his head.

"Lookout!"

Optimus reacted as Spectre pointed at the men in the helicopter, dodging the projectiles. The tanks came rumbling along, their guns aimed at the Prime. Trying to stand, Spectre hissed with pain. This wound is going to get her killed! Suddenly, she was scooped up in a gigantic hand, the large fingers holding her in a fist; Optimus was trying to make sure the civilian was safe in his hand without irritating the wound inflicted from the offlined mech.

Police megaphones blared to life, screaming, "Put the girl down!" The tanks started firing, ignoring the police cries to hold their fire. Malcolm watched from the chopper that were discharging their bazooka's, a girl was clenched in the Autobot's fist, holding on to dear life as Optimus started running in the opposite direction of the tanks.

Spectre held on to the protruded thumb watching as the chopper started pursuing them down the interstate. Optimus's feet were destroying the tarmac, leaving giant footprints behind.

"Hey! If you want to lose them you're going to have to get off the interstate! You're practically leaving a trail of bread crumbs!" Spectre yelled on top of her burning lungs, feeling her throat bleed from the previous attempt to get someone's attention to get the damn car off of her. For a minute it seemed as if he wasn't listening to her until her veered off course, running into the long grass again, trying to head for a forest where he previously lost the government.

"Hold on!" Optimus transformed, parts flying everywhere making Spectre terrified she'll literally die in a living death trap. The seat formed underneath her, seat belt strapped over her gaping wound and Optimus floored it.

'Here we go again!'

**Hi fanfictioners! Another beloved chapter up and the first chapter has been updated so go check that out and see if it's slightly better. Ciao! Won't post tomorrow since my final project is where I go with a group of people from my high school and help the community since it's required for me to graduate. Oh and Spectre she is not a Mary Sue except for the small face and "the talent of age defying" that's all. See ya in a couple days and remember: I want you to read and review for the good of the fic! Love from the Cherryblossom Tree 3**


	3. Chapter 3

Telephones were ringing constantly at the underground base in the Nevada. The base was originally Area 51 until there was so much conspiracy that the government was forced to move it into a secure location that is now only between the President of the United States, the Secret Service, and the director of the new Area 51. Now it was the home of extensive research and intelligence for the extinction of Cybertronians.

It was cool in this concrete vessel, a relief from the unrelenting sun hovering overhead in this God forsaken desert. The head of this base was a man who was indeed very pale with mussed up black hair and was very gaunt from the lack of sleep and food. He watched as men and women alike all in Air Force attire communicate to various fighters in the sky with multiple languages to report any potential Autobot and Decepticon sightings.

Glorious to watch in the dim lights with makeshifts cubes made out of damaged plane parts and the light of the computers flitting across his comrades faces; gazes of concern and genuine hope to rid this planet of unwanted visitors. This is what he deemed a piece of heaven except for his other piece of heaven in the crowded woods of Wisconsin. Fumbling through his disheveled uniform, he tenderly pulled out a crinkled photograph; it was faded from being in the water and from his body rubbing against surfaces that made the picture fainter. In the washed out photograph were three people: a woman with hair of gold and eyes of shining emeralds holding a boy who looked like his mother while his daughter stood to the side, posed as though she were in a spy movie.

His family was waiting for him at home. Smiling softly his rough fingers smoothed over his daughter's face, the pride and joy of the family. Eldest girl who had a strong sense of wrong and right, flexible, and had the willpower to go through any challenge that life presented to her. The ideal child of the military.

"Sir," the man turned his gaze down to a man equally dressed, pointing to the computer. "You better come take a look at this." He was very grave which only meant something's going to affect him. All the military members put their calls on hold, helping to connect this man's computer to the huge monitor that was connected to a central pillar that was holding the underground base up. The black hair soldier watched with curiosity as the huge screen was filled with static and hissing noises as the connection was starting to get better.

The man who told the superior officer to look at the screen was typing rapidly before swiveling his chair around, watching as the screen slowly flickered to life with documents of a report in progress and video footage from the helicopter that was filmed approximately an hour ago. From this scene the man identified the Cybertronian as Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and the one whom if taken out would shatter the remaining Autobot's. He was watching intently as Optimus leaned down and rolled a car over.

He squinted his eyes, 'That car looks awfully familiar.' He couldn't put his finger on the light blue ball of metal. Optimus's voice rumbled like a rolling cloud of thunder before there was an indistinguishable shriek. The robot started running, fast for a gigantic robot with something grasped in his hand, a figure is more like it.

"Freeze it!" The command was obeyed, the frame a perfect angle of the figure grasping the hand. It was awfully blurry; mainly blend of black, blue, red, and green. The top of the head had a specific pattern as though cupping the face.

Possibilities flitted through his head. It couldn't be…

The monitor started ringing, his superior was calling. Automatically the man in the chair turned it on and Malcolm's face popped up, his face now more pronounced and features looking more of his age. The man gave a short salute before he leaned over the bar looking at the figure more intensely. That had to be her!

"Mr. Velde, I came here to report the obvious."

On cue, the blurry figure soon was reconfigured to the girl with black hair with electric blue streaks; bloodied with green stuff staining the culprit's hand. Mr. Velde nearly started crying as his daughter was now prisoner of the disgusting Autobot's. Malcolm shook his head as he continued the footage, all eyes watching as Optimus transformed into his alt. mode, strategically driving into the sun, hard to see where he was going with his captive daughter.

Anger coursed through his veins. He was helpless! Gripping the railing to the point the metal were contorting to the shape of his palms, Mr. Velde looked to the sterile face of his superior.

"We have to rescue her!" It was not an option. The whole audience became unnaturally still as the growing anger was flitting through this vast space. Clearing his throat Malcolm spoke his voice soft with his men grabbing the equipment from the back of the helicopter.

"Velde, I know your daughter is a top priority on your agenda but Optimus Prime is the main target. You of all people should know that. Which is why I'm proposing a deal."

A deal? Since when did the military start making deals to each other?

"I propose that Black Ops _and_ the Navy Seals merge together for this mission of eliminating the imposing threat of Optimus Prime and rescue your daughter." There was no hesitation as Mr. Velde ran to his room and gathered his weapons and bag before coming out.

"Deal!"

**Hey guys! Just to let you guys know my dad did serve in the military in the Navy branch so I do have some knowledge of what goes on via ocean wise since my dad travelled the world training and maybe serving (I found Navy Seal badges in his Navy stuff so I wonder if he did some cool missions before he died and couldn't tell me or bought them for fun!) In other news I want you to read and review because critique is everything to me to improve my writing skills and to make this fic better. Hope the finals aren't getting in the way like mine are! Finish strong in school! Love from the Cherryblossom Tree **


	4. Chapter 4

'So much for a vacation.' A mere thought in the stillness. The world was silent except for the chatter of chipmunks, squirrels, and the chirps of the birds who sang in curiosity. Laying in the sleeper, Spectre laid still,her eyes were glued shut, not even feeling that there was enough strength to reopen raced down her back as the wound oozed a little bit more, the green stuff now dried as a foamy substance. She had tried to clean it off, it just hurt too much to really do anything except to lay still and wait for this robot's next move.

Another flare of pain came and went, Spectre held in her moans and groans of agony, bathing in the odor of rust and gasoline.

Optimus shifted his gaze mentally to the girl in the back, tears of pain glimmered in the dark room. His spark hurt just watching someone whom he vowed to protect to suffer under his very plating. The atmosphere outside began cooling signaling the approaching night.

It had been hours of stillness and complete silence for the military to actually break off their search. Thanks to Spectre's presence, the military followed at a distance to ensure that if they didn't agitate him, she would be spared. His mind travelled back to the hours of his grand escape.

* * *

_What did the humans call it, "Put the pedal to the metal"? It wasn't a positive if that was the phrase, it just seemed appropriate for this situation. The tanks and helicopters were at distance due to the girl who was seat belted in the driver's seat. She was currently looking straight ahead, face stunned. Optimus couldn't really blame her for that reaction. Trying to live her life only to be swept into a conflict with injuries that his enemy had inflicted? The gaping wound seemed to get worse by the minute. The red and green stuff was hardening yet she would continue bleeding out; this was not a position to be in as a civilian._

_With guilt gnawing his spark, Optimus had the courage to ping his friend that was currently in hiding as well. Rather everyone was in hiding but he seemed to be the closest and a real medic. With a sigh, he lit his radio up and tuned it to the correct station where Ratchet would be on. After a moment of hesitation he addressed the human._

"_Excuse me."_

"_Yes?" The Prime was surprised he didn't get snapped at or even worse accused of a wrongful death. He continued on, trying to not drive in the potholes for the girl's sake._

"_I have a friend on the radio who can help you but I cannot address him in this form and while being chased, will you please talk to him? If he asks you why a human is contacting him, tell him that Optimus Prime wanted you to take a look at your injuries once we found a secure location."_

"_Ok."_

_ It was interesting to hear her talk calmly into the radio despite her wound for it even, not a flinch of pain. It took a minute but finally he picked up._

"_Hello? Prime is that you?"_

"_No this is Spectre, I was told by Optimus Prime to contact you. Apparently he's concerned about the injuries I got maybe an hour ago." Silence was present and Optimus prayed he'd understand the situation before disconnecting. A stray missile exploded dangerously close to Spectre, metal flying everywhere. _

_ Spectre realized she was holding the trigger and let go of it, getting a response from the other end. He sounded extremely worried._

"_Are you guys okay? Anybody copy?"_

"_Yes I'm still here and we almost got killed by a missile from the military."_

"_Primus I'm going to kill Optimus if he doesn't get into shape and start hiding instead of hunting down the Decepticons!" Giggling at the statement, Spectre looked to Optimus with a grin._

"_Hear that?"_

"_You're still as grouchy as ever Ratchet." He deadpanned._

"_GROUCHY!? I'll show you grouchy if you ever make it through this Prime!" That phrase just screamed a wrench whacking._

"_Settle down Ratchet," Optimus started, watching as the copter and tank fired some more projectiles. He swerved and rolled over a couple times before landing upright, speeding away again. This chase has been going on for too long! His optics scanned for the forest line only a few yards away. "I want you to start the basics over Spectre and we'll rendezvous a set of coordinates for the actual examination."_

"_Fine; Spectre?"_

"_Yes Ratchet?"_

"_I want you to tell me everything honestly as I go through my questions. Understand?"_

"_Yes sir."_

"_Good now tell me, how did the Decepticon hurt you?"_

"_I hit my breaks and he reached in with a finger that was covered in green goop before tossing the car."_

"_Good now do you remember his physical features?"_

"_He looked short compared to Optimus, kind of moved like an animal, had four red eyes, bulky, and was pitch black. His claws were again covered in green goop."_

_A pause before Ratchet's voice crackled over again._

"_Where did he puncture you? Abdomen? Chest?"_

"_In the abdomen," Spectre violently coughed, raising her hand to see more blood and the taste writhing around in her sore throat. Optimus noticed; firing his engine to the maximum capacity as he finally reached the forest line, driving over the underbrush to find the perfect place to hide again. _

_The ride was really unpleasant as everything was being thrown from discarded shells from previous wounds the military inflicted, the radio receiver, and even the passenger's seatbelt! He felt bad as things collided against Spectre. She was trying to grab the receiver in the flying mess, a couple of shells bounced off her head before being whipped on the arm by the seatbelt._

_ Spectre managed to catch the receiver when Optimus drove over another dip, now struggling to breathe and respond to Ratchet._

"_Abdomen…" She repeated, followed by another cough that became deeper and more blood mixed with phlegm came out. Picking up on the sound of deteriorating health, Ratchet tried to speed up the processing._

"_How much pain are you on from a scale of one to ten. Ten being the highest."_

"_Nine…"_

"_What's stopping it from ten, Spectre?"_

"_My throat and abdomen only."_

"_Okay, Since it sounds like you are convulsing, I recommend you stay in Prime's sleeper. I want you to be resting rather than watching Prime driving."_

"_Got it."_

"_Alright go on ahead; Prime will keep in contact with me."_

_ Too weak and in pain, Spectre fuddled with the receiver; vision going blurry and her world swaying. It was bad to be in a seat belt when he ran over a huge dip, making her smash her forehead against the steering wheel!_

"_Ow! Hey be more careful driving or else you'll pop a tire, blow a gasket, or whatever will make it more obvious there's a serious patient on board!"_

_Optimus ignored her. He slowed his speed watching this human struggle; shakily unbuckling her while trying not to get any more blood on his interior. She struggled to walk using the walls as supports. She stumbled into the back where his sleeper was, all cloaked in darkness of scratched metallic. She collapsed in the bed, holding her wound as she sunk into the stiff yet comfortable mattress. Jostled again, the golden eyes snapped shut, all in hope that this was just a bad dream._

_ Optimus wanted to stop moving for the sake of Ratchet's medical expertise, yet that would cost him potentially his life. With all the strength and speed he could muster, Optimus drove into the bright setting sun, his optics able to cut through the blinding star. They scanned for a place to hide before coming upon a monstrous river where there were a few islands that had thickets of crowding trees._

_ Closing the doors, he made an airtight seal. Coming to the shore of the river banks, water crashed through the broken windows, interior immediately flooding. It hurt that his systems were waterlogged. _

_ Hours wore down and his scanner of dozens of red blips slowly receded until he was alone. Starting up his systems, he slowly started driving from the murky depths of the river to the land of overbearing trees, his systems screamed with the agony from injuries being contaminated. The only thought that raced through the Prime's processor was that Ratchet was going to have a field day._

* * *

It had been at least six hours since the conversation, Optimus reached out via his radio, knowing that the military could pick up on his com. link frequency. More static crackled before contact was made.

"Ratchet? Are you there?"

"Yes I am. Now that I assume you are now incognito, give me the coordinates to your location so I can look at Spectre."

"Alright."

"How is she doing anyways?" Ratchet asked, downloading the coordinates his leader pinged him. On cue, the human girl hissed in pain, rolling over in her sleep. Optimus frowned. It was his entire fault. It had to be because he could've stopped the Decepticon Scout sooner; she wouldn't have to be in this position entirely, nor would she have to suffer the death of her companion because he thought everything could play out to the benefit of the military ridding the Decepticon.

"Bad."

"I'm on my way." The radio went silent as Prime was left to his thoughts, feeling overwhelmed with all these emotions. He couldn't figure out which emotion was the strongest; his Spark was hurting and nothing was helping it calm down. He shook himself from the invisible cloak that clung to him, jostling the injured patient. She groaned and he stopped, hating himself further since Prime seemed to make the human suffer anymore.

The Matrix stashed away in the glove compartment; glowed brightly, illuminating through the cracks. Maybe it was trying to tell him something? Mentally he reached out, seeing barriers of white, and the six Primes who were apparent in Sam's vision that he described after the battle in Egypt. They were all standing there, silent statues who guarded the Well of All Sparks, focusing on the current Prime.

* * *

"Optimus, we have been expecting you."

"We have some news to tell you." Without waiting for a reply, the leader of the six Primes stepped forth. His face was like the Fallen's except they had softer features and his body was dark silver with a bronze glaze. His clawed fingers slowly unrolled itself to show what looked like a ball of steaming light encompassed by a golden disk. It was beautiful, calming even. Soon as abruptly as it was, it left.

* * *

"Optimus?"

He focused on Spectre now weak, walking to the front of the semi-truck. Mentally he tried to close the door, only to have it deflected by the human who seemed a bit better. She sat herself in the damp driver's seat, looking at the radio. Optimus sighed with guilt again.

"You're not supposed to get up until my medic has arrived."

"I know, it's just-" she looked at the dashboard before refocusing on the windows, "I don't know, I feel like a burden to you. You were trying to escape and now you got me, a wounded civilian on your hands." Taken aback by the statement Optimus turned on the heat, letting the hot air blow so Spectre was comfortable. Spectre got up not only because of Optimus shaking himself off, it was because she could feel the leader's guilt feeding off the walls in the interior.

It was hard to know what was going on. The news reporter did say that all alien activity must be reported to the authorities including the robots who saved Chicago; that didn't feel right to throw heroes away as though they were trash. Her human instinct to fight or flight didn't kick in at all during this "captivity." Odd as it may sound but Spectre didn't feel the need to be afraid, there was this enigma of safety and justice among them.

Thinking of a way to repay at least Optimus back, Spectre felt her gut lurch painfully. This wasn't good. The future tell-tale signs of the most disgusting things to do, she kicked open the passenger door and ran off as fast as she could. Dirt was kicked up behind her, the only light colored thing seen in the dark before she hid behind a tree and went to her knees, purging her poor body out. Everything was a bright neon green, clear, red, and lingering tinged of other miscellaneous colors. Thinking she was done, she wretched one more time, before rolling away from the pool of toxins, watching the sky in wonder.

* * *

**MY APOLOGIES! I have finals from May 27 - May 29 and then I graduate! So expect some delays with this fic since I'm going to try and write another Transformers fic. Anyways read and review loyal people who like this fic. Love from The Cherryblossom Tree**


	5. Chapter 5

Heavy metallic feet signaled the arrival of the Autobot medic, his lime green paint job screaming, "I'M A WALKING TARGET!" In the dark it wasn't as noticeable, Optimus's headlights were the ones who spotted the walking medic. He transformed, weakly standing on his two legs, wires sparking, and with one step, he collapsed on the back of his trusted friend.

"I swear Prime, you are getting to old for this job." Ratchet grumbled, easing his leader onto his back, carefully minding the twigs covering the forest floor. Optimus looked at Ratchet with his dark blue eyes. The medic concluded there is possible processor damage for optics that go a shade darker than usual signal trauma.

"What happened to her?" Optimus asked weakly, stopping Ratchet's hand before it could begin its medical procedure by memory. This wasn't surprising to say the least. He just had to put everyone in front of him before his leader got treatment! With an audible side, Ratchet glanced behind him to see the girl standing straight and tall, in an attempt to hide the inner struggle.

A quick nod to her he acknowledged the human. That was really troubling in his mind. Ratchet was losing his caution for things that could attack him or give him away to the human population.

'Spectre, the only references I can find is in something called _D.C. Comics._' He stared more intently on the little human, a very exotic girl to say the least. She probably modified herself to fit into society or an identity crisis as every human teenager angsts about these days. She had a gaping wound and she pressed her hand over her wound a bit more; self-conciously concealing the damage thrown upon her.

Moving forwards, Ratchet beckoned her into his palm, voice rumbling with a scratched vocalizer that really needed some maintenance.

"Child, I'm not here to harm you. I am here to help you, please let me at least do my job."

"I have no doubts about your medic skills-um...-Ratchet, correct?"

"Indeed." Giving a polite nod, Ratchet waited for Spectre as she gazed at his palm. This was happening to her. Never in her short human life would she ever get involved with the Autobot's or a slight skirmish with the Decepticons to say the least. With her ratty old shoes, she climbed into the elder mech's arm, surprised he didn't curl his fingers.

Slowly Ratchet turned to Optimus and noticed he had locked gazes with the young human.

"Now Prime, I will perform treatment on her before I get to you as requested."

"I hear a "but" in there though." Spectre spoke, timid about her comment. It didn't matter; Ratchet turned to her and narrowed his optics.

"I will only speak the truth Spectre and I have friends who can vouch I will be blunt about your condition."

"Good."

Ratchet blinked in surprise. Since when did people like blunt news? He must've heard that wrong. Shaking the shock, he became his old professional self again.

"Based on the symptoms and the obvious wound you have presented with me, not only are you poisoned with radioactive material but this came from a 'Con. Which in worse terms means you're not going to live much longer." He paused to let the news sink in. Spectre mulled that over in her head. Sheesh did destiny really want her to die at a young age? Then it hit her _HARD_\- she was going to die! And there were no treatment options like the TV would produce when her grandma was diagnosed with cancer.

Nothing! Nada! Zip! Her world became a bit fuzzy and nausea hit her nerves like a ball in a ping-pong machine. Quickly she was snatched from Ratchet's hands and nestled in the cool metallic fingers of Optimus,resting against the strong fingers.

Optimus shuttered his optics a couple times, not realizing how protective he was of this sole human. Spectre and Ratchet both were equally surprised. They didn't know why the Prime would do that.

"Ratchet, are you certain?" Prime finally spoke for the first time in a while. An obvious and stupid question that rolled off his glossa. Reprimanding his sensitive side for a moment, he heard quiet shuffling before a large hand rested on his shoulder. Ratchet's eyes were sympathetic as he moved over to Prime and started working on the necessary repairs needed to the leader.

"I'm sorry Prime, it's the truth. The material that specific Decepticon Scout was carrying was indeed a biological weapon. It will indeed offline her in little more than a few weeks unless I provide her with necessary treatment. It'll slow the time down to at least a month and a half. That's all I can do."

With golden eyes watching Ratchet's nimble fingers work on Optimus's legs, Spectre looked up to the CMO and quietly asked, trying to keep the imminent waves of grief and fear under control, "Sir, I'm sorry to ask this question but-" Hesitant for a moment, she continued on now a tear glittering down her already stained cheeks, "is there anything I can do? I mean I can't have you heal me without something in return. It's just how I work."

In Spectre's mind she was dying so why not at least help the mech who already saved her and the other mech who was going to slow down her illness? Going to see her family for the last time was not an option for visiting them meant turning in her savior's and that wouldn't sit right with her. The teenager was always charitable and always repaid her debts either through money or labor. Looks like labor will be on her list of things to do.

Optimus and Ratchet looked to each other before looking down at her. That was a surprising statement to say the least. Especially out of their allies-turned-enemies. Optimus shook his head and Ratchet pondered it for a moment before shrugging.

"To be honest Spectre, I don't know. For now, I want you to rest since I'll be working on Prime for the rest of the evening. Okay?"

"Ok, I guess."

The hand lowered and Spectre slid off the hand with ease. She walked to what looked like a nice canopy of trees. Picking the sturdiest tree, Spectre started climbing, looking quite ridiculous as she never really climbed a tree before (unless you count that time a camp counselor told you to be at least one inch off the ground in an exercise.) Reaching the first set of branches was hard but climbing the rest of the tree was easy. As she reached the top, she glanced down and watched the two pairs of optics freely talk to one another in murmured voices.

It was none of her business and in reality she should finish up as the once dulled pain from her abdomen renew with the itching agitation from the physical strain. Deciding a bed would be worthless, Spectre sat with her back against the trunk of the tree and softly dozed off, the grim hammer of reality clouding her dreams.

* * *

**Hey guys! No more excuses I have yet to still see the new Transformers movie and I will try to get on this fic some more. My birthday is tomorrow so no guarantees there'll be a new chapter. See ya next time! Love from The Cherryblossom Tree**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! A few days ago I **_**FINALLY**_** watched Transformers: Age of Extinction! Man I love the movies just hoping Michael Bay might do Unicron since I don't know a Transformer show/movie without Unicron in it (minus Transformers Animated). Anyways new chapter hope you like and R&amp;R (I know there are people reading this! :0)**

* * *

Daylight dawned over the horizon, the bright orange and yellow stirring Spectre from her sleep. With a yawn, she stretched her arms over her head only to squawk out of pain, looking back down at her abdomen.

'Crap.' The wound was now a big disgusting scab and fluids. The smeel of rotten flesh made her stomach churn. Biting her lip and pushing down her nausea, Spectre looked down from the tree to see Ratchet and Optimus in their vehicle forms. A faint smile formed on her lips seeing Optimus not all riddled with shell holes and other injuries. Heck even his tires were properly inflated! Deciding it was probably too early to disturb powerful robots of authority, she nestled herself against the tree again, softly going into a light doze.

* * *

Down below the girl, Optimus and Ratchet were actually talking and not in recharge. They were discussing Spectre and what to do with her.

"Prime, she can't stay with you."

"I know Ratchet. She is in harms way if we continue the journey."

"Listen," the medic's voice dropped a couple of notches, "new Autobots have arrived on Earth and one of them is saying that he is sensing an artifact called the Nexus located at a military naval base in Florida. That will be too vigorous for her. She needs to either stay in a hospital or find the closest living relative."

"Or," Optimus rumbled, his mind drifting back to that faithful conversation with Lennox. "she can be entrusted to the ranch of the Lennox's. He said it was a safe haven for Autobots and those who the government deem as "terrorists" to the humanity's safety."

"Wouldn't we be detected?"

"Not with Spectre in my driver's seat."

An exasperated sigh escaped Ratchet in his mind but that'd be fine.

"Just make sure she doesn't get introduced into new conflict points. Is that understood?" Prime might be his leader but when there was a patient in need and care, he will pull medical and age rank out on him. A low rumble meaning yes, Optimus shifted a bit, trying to put his mind back in contact with the Matrix. Silence. Whatever it must've been, Ratchet already gave him the answer to.

Inside he kind of smirked. What he _didn't_ tell Ratchet was the ranch is located in Arizona. A place of deserts that stretched for acres and no one could get a clear shot of what they saw if there were plenty of cliffs and gorges in the area. Smugly, Optimus settled into a light doze as he listened to the birds chirp happily.

Not even five minutes later he heard a weird voice exclaim: "Nooo! The light is too bright!"

"Spectre are you going to die?" Ratchet asked immediately transforming and jumping to the tree the girl chose as her designated sleeping area. The girl looked down at him, only a couple feet above his face and she stretched, back popping a couple times before muttering, "No, just wish I had gotten some more sleep. I'm a night owl not a morning person."

"Alright. How's your injury?" Ratchet ignored the explanation on sleep and skipped to the main cause of problems.

"It's really painful."

"I forgot to treat you. Want me to do it now?"

"I'm confused. Didn't you say I was going to die?"

Optimus transformed and walked up to the tree, offering his hand to Spectre. No hesitation was imminent in her movements as she jumped into the cool metal palm. That earned an annoyed gruff from Ratchet.

"Yes you will but I can slow it down until you are comfortable."

"Yeah but you can't treat radiation with radiation."

"Obviously. Just hold still and Prime don't you dare jerk your hand away from me!"

Both of them obeyed as Ratchet had a digit that flipped back to reveal a little nozzle. Spectre's face was screwed into confusion until the finger hovered a couple inches away from the wound. A blast of cold air earned a scream from the human. She screamed out of surprise but she dared not to move away from the "treatment" or else get a scolding. Optimus held out his hand and kept it steady as Ratchet continued spraying, thanking Primus that he managed to download all the possibilities and theories of medicine from the government before they turned their backs on them.

The CMO pulled back, his digit going over the nozzle. He leaned down so he had eye contact with Spectre.

"You see from my own personal experiences back on Cybertron, freezing the injury will cause the radiation to slow down magnificently until Optimus manages to take you to a ranch an ally of ours deemed a safe haven for our race. I expect you will be treated with respect and in turn you treat everybody with the same respect."

Responding with a salute, she stood up and turned to him only to grab her torso. God! It hurt even worse than her early morning stretch! This time instead of an annoying tugging it felt like she was frozen to metal!

"Be careful young one." Optimus rumbled, gently depositing her on the ground. He put his hand on Ratchet's shoulder.

"Thank you for the help my friend." Ratchet batted the hand off with a gesture that showed it was no problem. He smiled and responded, "You better take care of yourself until I come find you and Spectre again. I will offline you if you give me a spark attack like you did when I found you."

"Don't worry I'll be more careful."

"You better especially with a new passenger on board," he looked to Spectre and waved at her. "I'll meet you at Lennox's ranch after I find al the recruits who landed on Earth shortly after the alliance was cut off."

"Take care Ratchet!" Spectre responded waving as he turned and transformed, revving his engine a couple times before departing to find the mechs who came at the wrong time for a refuge.

After Ratchet left, Optimus turned down to his human companion.

"Time to leave."

"I hope Lennox is a nice guy." Spectre wondered as she watched Optimus turn into his filthy truck. It must've hurt all the sounds of twisting metal and creaks until he bounced on his wheels a couple times before he settled and opened his door. A couple of mortar cases tumbled out and Spectre giggled.

"Before we go anywhere, lets at least get the shells out of you. They could distract you or cause you to be uncomfortable." Climbing in, Spectre hunted every single casing in his interior, throwing them to the front before moving towards the front and throwing them outside into the mud. After that was done she examined the height and grimaced. The pile was over two feet high!

"Damn! The government must really hate you. No offense meant but seriously, that's a lot of casings!"

"Non-taken." Optimus groused as he shut the door and felt the human's little body sit in the huge driver's seat. His engines blared to life along with his radio, exiting the mini isle and heading to Florida.

_West bound and down, 18 wheels a rollin'_

_A'we gonna do what they say can't be done_

_We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there_

_I'm west bound just watch Ol' Bandit run_

* * *

**I don't own Jerry Reed's: ****West Bound and Down****. Anybody know the movie to this? Because I know and most of the people my age don't know it. :P Hope you enjoyed until next time! Ciao!**


	7. Chapter 7

Staring out the window became a popular pass time for Spectre as she sat in the annoying and awkward silence while Optimus kept driving down the highway. He had put on country music to ease the awkwardness; so far it wasn't working.

It had been a while since she saw crops of gold now crops of green as they transitioned from borderline Iowa and Wisconsin. The sky was grey and it came with on and off drizzling into unknown states she and her family never ventured to. Sure she did move constantly when she was a toddler but since her dad had an important role as leader of the Navy Seals, they were moved to a more permanent location while her dad went to Florida for duty. She winced a bit that her last conversation with her father was an argument about upholding the family honor.

* * *

_A brochure was slapped in front of her at the dinner table. Spectre glared at the cover, showing a young man dressed in a Navy uniform, saluting the photographer. On the front in bold letters it read: Navy Pride. Join the U.S. Army today._

_"It is time to become the woman you were destined to become." Her father spoke his voice kind and rumbling. The TV was on in the background with a recap of the previous attack on Chicago. Robots, 'No! Autobots and Decepticons!' were fighting on screen, the Decepticons chasing the military around the skyscrapers as the military performed the Flying Squirrel for infiltration. She didn't want to become the humans who lived in fear of the people who saved her civilization and despise the others who dared to inflict human casualty._

_Mr. Velde, glanced at the TV with a huff and hoped her daughter could be the one who would be remembered for finding the Cybertronians who dared step on this Earth to kill. He could put in a kind word and have her own squad! IT would work out. He frowned when Spectre pushed the brochure away, picking at her cold mashed potato's. _

_"Darling, you don't know what the military might do for you."_

_"Dad I'm not joining."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yes really!" Spectre growled, popping in some meatloaf. The cold texture made her shiver uncomfortably._

_"Well I am your father and for the sake of your future, I am going to enlist you as soon as you turn eighteen." Slamming down her fork and pushing her chair over she grabbed the brochure and pointed it accusingly at her father._

_"MY future? More like your future! Ever since I was a kid, you wanted me to think about being in the army! When I say I'm not joining I mean it!"_

_He was losing his patience. Standing up too, he yelled, "It's for the good of your family to serve!" _

_"No it's for the good of your damn ego!" A slap later and Spectre was stunned. Her father never hit her. Not once. Sure she got punched and kicked by bullies at school, never from her dad. That hurt. The stinging sensation on her cheek was proof that her dad wasn't going to back down easily. If it was going to be like that, then so be it! Taking the brochure, she ripped the damn thing into itty bitty pieces, throwing them into her father's food. Mr. Velde's face was a bright red and he bellowed through the house, nearly turning the table in fury, "You're grounded now go to your room!" _

_"Fine." Spectre said eerily calm, walking away from her father, not even glancing back at him. She didn't even know if she could call him father after what he had tried to do. Mr. Velde seemed more of an approproiate title than "dad." _

_When she reached her room, she slammed the door, and hurriedly grabbed a makeshift backpack filled with some clothes and items. She rushed over to the far wall and opened the window to where it led to the roof. Swinging one leg out, she temporarily straddled the window sill, sending a text to her uncle about a new pick up location._

_Originally Spectre was going to be picked up tomorrow at their house but since the argument with her dad, she didn't want to stay in a house that didn't understand her. A "cling" noise signaled the new text and she sighed with relief. The best thing about her uncle was that he understood her. That was great now to go to her new "home" for the time being._

_Quietly she closed the window to her room and crept along the shingles, keeping an eye out for her brother. He always tripped her up when trying to escape the house and was deemed "Daddy's Little Scout." She snorted at that nickname. It was hers orignally. _

_"Looks like some things change." Spectre muttered bitterly, brushing her black and blue hair from her eyes. She got to the edge where there was a three foot gap between the house and the garage roof. It wasn't difficult for her. Backing up a bit, Spectre got up against the grey siding of the house and dashed off the roof, landing safely on top of the garage. _

_One careful look around proved nobody truly noticed her escape. There was a mini door she installed for herself as she opened it and whipped out her flashlight, pointing it to the nearest beam. Shimmying down onto the beam, she whirled it around before dropping into the soft gravel. It smelled nice, brought her back to her naive childhood. Shaking the distraction away, she whirled her flashlight around until it landed on her black go-cart. She did have a driver's license and could take her parent's vehicles, Spectre knew she wasn't coming back for a while and a go-cart was easier to conceal._

_Reaching into her bag, Spectre grabbed her keys and opened the garage door, knowing the mechanical whirrs were going to reveal her plan of escape. Throwing on a helmet so no insects got glued to her head, Spectre jumped in the seat and threw the keys into the ignition, and the engine blared with life. No time to be wasted, Spectre slammed on the gas and drove out of the garage just as Mr. Velde tried to close the garage and yelled at her, his voice lost to the revving engine. _

_With a smile Spectre did a couple doughnuts before whooping and screaming with joy as Mr. Velde chased after her. She didn't care, this thing could out run him and his Ford pick up any day thanks to her mechanic-of-friends. With a souped up motor, she peeled out of the gravel driveway and soon onto the narrow roads, heading towards a spot no one would ever suspect her to be at._

* * *

"Spectre?" She looked over to the radio, and "Hm'nd?" at it.

"Is something wrong? You seem as though you were reflecting about something."

Opening her mouth to tell him it was nothing, she closed it and sunk into the leather seats. It seemed to be made for her petite body, contouring to all the gaps of her body, making her feel safe. Looking at her feet, Spectre asked softly, "Did you ever have people try to force your future and make you who you are today, Optimus?"

It only took him a moment to remember and replied without missing a beat.

"Yes I did." He didn't want to press her on the subject but it seemed like she really needed to talk. He lowered the volume on the stereo and pulled off to the side of the road, putting on his hazard lights. To normal civilians it would seem like nothing really. Optimus's voice rumbled around Spectre.

"If you want to talk about it, tell me now. I don't like to see my friends in distress; if you don't than it isn't my choice."

"I figured." Deciding to get the guilt off her chest, she explained, "A few days ago, my dad wanted me to join the military saying it was for my future. I knew it was to uphold a family tradition. I didn't want to be in the military and I told him I wasn't going to join; one thing led to another and he slapped me across the face," The Prime tensed at the slapped part. Why deny their child happiness and slap them for resisting their wishes? He listened on as Spectre finished, "I ran away from home. I took my trusty go-cart and met my uncle at a location we both knew before driving to Iowa. And that's when all my life kind of went sideways."

"I apologize for bringing you into this conflict. It wasn't my intention-" Spectre cut him at that moment, holding up her hand.

"Dude it's okay. I'd rather help you than become my dad's fantasy." She leaned over and turned off the hazard lights before stretching a bit. That's when police lights of red and blue were seen in the rearview mirror.

"Crap!"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm probably going to get arrested."

"For?"

"Not having a semi-license! I only have a license for a car, not for you!"

"Calm down!" Optimus snapped, before shaking Spectre out of his seat and watching her move over to the passenger seat. She didn't look pleased at the new seat arrangement. Nervously peeking out of the semi, she watched a highway patrol officer get out of his car and when she looked back she gasped. Sitting in the driver's seat was a man in his late thirties, dark brown hair, blazing blue eyes, and he was all muscle. Not too muscly but enough to be attractive. He was wearing a red button up and blue jeans. He flashed a smile before putting a finger to his lips.

"Sir, license and registration please."

"Sure thing officer." came the rumbling voice of baritone. One thought crossed the teenagers mind: THAT WAS OPTIMUS! She was speechless and Optimus gently motioned her to grab the paper work. After getting her numbed hands to work, she grabbed the paper work from inside the glove compartment and shakily handed it over to the Prime. With a flourish, the now humanized Prime, handed over the registration to the waiting cop.

The cop sternly groused out, "Sir, your license."

"My apologies." From his back pocket he fished out a replica driver's license with his mugshot under an alias. It was nice and calm as the police officer looked it over before handing everything back to him.

"Sorry, it looked suspicious that a truck with no cargo stopped off to the side of the road."

"Again my apologies," Optimus waved Spectre to come over to him and she popped her head out of the window, hiding her injury from the officer. She waved and innocently almost like honey sounding automatically beamed, "Hi." The officer waved back and Optimus explained, "my niece was diagnosed with cancer a couple days ago in the hospital. She lives in Florida and since someone stole her wallet containing plane tickets, I'm driving her home."

The cop frowned and took off his hat in respect. Spectre flashed a smile and pointed to herself.

"I'm not scared! I'm going to kick cancer's ass!" Optimus turned and snapped, "Language!" She fake wilted and waved to the cop.

"I'll be fine."

"Well you're a brave soul!" With a satisfied smile, Spectre walked back over to the passenger seat and plopped down, seeing lightning flash through the air. Turning to Optimus, the cop put on his hat he replied, "Be glad you have a daughter like that. I would give anything to have a child like her. Anyways have a good day and be careful! There's a tornado warning for this county. I recommend you get to safety."

"Thanks for the warning officer." Optimus waved to him as he pretended to turn the keys in the ignition and started "driving." He got off the shoulder of the road and continued driving, scanning for potential areas that have since been abandoned and he can let his legs stretch. That one comment did leave him kind of uneasy. Turning to Spectre, he asked, "What did he mean I was lucky to have you as a daughter?"

She shrugged, answering to her best ability.

"Well based on that comment, he must be divorced and some divorced couples move to far ends of the country or sometimes next door. He must've gone through one and lost his children in a custody battle. I don't really know since the guy is somebody we just met. I'm basing this off what I heard him tell you." Trying to adjust to the seat, she spied something black from her peripheral vision. Turning to her right, she jumped. Noticing her movements, Optimus turned and saw a funnel about to touch down on the earth. He scanned for areas to hide and he was coming to a bridge.

The tornado sirens blared through the country side signaling a nearby town. Normally Optimus would try to beat the tornado; Spectre too would try but not with a serious wound and a degrading health. Seeing a bridge up ahead, he gunned it, thanking Primus there was no one else on the road. He slowed and parked under the bridge, driving onto the shoulder in case an idiot tried to beat them to the nearest town or if anyone needed refuge in their car. Spectre was calming herself down, trying not to panic over something that seemed miniscule to the Cybertronian leader.

The holoform sighed.

"This is a delay I wasn't expecting."

"Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize." He turned and noted Spectre looked quite pale. The Prime calmly muttered, "Go get some rest, I'll alert you when we are stopping or there's any signs of danger."

"Okay Optimus. Goodnight,hope you get some rest too. You'll probably need it more than I do." Spectre got up from the chair and clambered into the cabin, laying herself carefully in the bed before dozing off into a dream. Optimus shut off his systems and liked the feeling of a warm companion being with him for the first time in a while.

* * *

**Hi guys! This is rare even for me to update so quickly! I was thinking about drawing Spectre and holoform Optimus talking to each other. I'm not the best at art but I'll give it a shot or I will let you guys draw it and in turn I'll write a fic for you. Leaving it up to debate. See ya guys later!**


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